the_mysterious_mr_enterfandomcom-20200214-history
Just how broken is YouTube's copyright system?
I love YouTube. It allows me to post videos, do what I love to do--analyzing animation--and gain somewhat of a following. I also hate YouTube. Its broken copyright system allows whatever company to block seemingly whatever video they want for whatever reason. I've already gone on and on about Shout! Factory LLC, hereby known as Whine! Factory LLC--the company that claimed copyright infringement on a television show owned entirely by another company, which according to our broken US copyright system they were in complete legal means to do. YouTube decided to agree with them, which created a massive trouble for the brony community. The problem with them seems to have died down as of late; however, I woke up to a bigger, more personal problem. I have gotten a video blocked from something that wasn't previous matched for ID. Now if that was simply the problem, then I really wouldn't have any purpose to complain--well besides the fact that it means that any company can block any video they wish. In the United States we do have something called "Post Ex Facto Laws" which means that if you do something that is later declared illegal, then you don't get reprimanded for it. It might be just me, but I think that it should apply to copyright as well. Apparently YouTube does not agree with me. A video that was previously in the clear has now given me a copyright ID strike, not a match, a strike. This should be frightening for anyone who posts any sort of content on YouTube. You know that saying, "three strikes and you're out?" YouTube takes that to heart. If you get three strikes--which apparently any company can place on any channel any time they want--then your account is deleted, and your videos removed. You will also not be able to create another YouTube account. One claim can do all kinds of funky things to your channel--prevent you from monetization, making videos longer than 15 minutes, or using custom thumbnails. I feel like I should say that I'm "lucky" that the only thing I lost was the ability to post videos longer than 15 minutes, but that would be ridiculous. What other place on earth would you call yourself lucky for only LOSING one of your abilities? There are two ways to get a Copyright Strike to go away. Number one is that you can wait for six months. I wouldn't exactly call that reasonable measures. The other way is to get whoever got your video removed to resind their copyright claim. I am in the process of taking option number two. BRB Internacional has already proven themselves friendlier than Whine! Factory LLC. When I first made the review--they commented on my video, thanking me for it. I tweeted it, and they responded to it. I communicated with them and they retracted their copyright claim; however, BRB Internacional and their copyright claim is not what this journal entry is about. Let me tell you what this entry is about. *I made a review/analysis of a trailer (not an actual episode or movie) that clearly fell under "Fair Use." *There was no copyright ID match on the video. *The company that made this product commented on my YouTube channel, thanking me for the review. *They further said that thanking me was the least thing they could do. *The video was later blocked by the same company and placed a strike on my account at seemingly no provocation. This is how broken YouTube's copyright system is. Actually it's more broken than that. Last year, Sega of Japan was placing copyright claims and strikes on videos that merely talked about "Shining Force III" a video game from the nineties, simply to get their trailer at YouTube's top search result. I'm not kidding. This really happened. Total Biscuit, a game's critic goes further on that tangent if you want to hear about it, as well as a company that did not like his criticism www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfgoDD… With this current system, any company that doesn't like the criticism on any of your videos could declare a copyright strike on your account. They only have to do this three times and your channel goes good-bye. I think that the truly sad part is that most people, at least on some level, know this. They all know how bad YouTube's copyright system is, but they just sit back and accept it because the don't know what to do. I have found a glimmer of hope: The Electronic Frontier Foundation: www.eff.org/ They are a charity designed to defend your rights in the digital age. They seem legit. Perhaps they can repair some of the damages done by YouTube and Viacom: youtube-global.blogspot.com/20… (Even more paranoia fuel on the fire for you). We're left with this: United States copyright law was made and designed long before the inception of the internet, and the laws are nowhere near caught up. These are uncertain times. No one knows what's fair, let alone legal. With these startling facts, it seems like a company can remove any channel that they see fit, even if they have already granted permission for whoever to use their media in the past. Before you say that YouTube is allied with the companies, they are not. YouTube only has one interest. They've always only had one interest. That interest is: YouTube. Without this incredibly broken system Viacom might have won their lawsuit against YouTube. Even in 2013, they are still trying to win their lawsuit against YouTube. Here's an excerpt from YouTube's own blog: "For years, Viacom continuously and secretly uploaded its content to YouTube, even while publicly complaining about its presence there. It hired no fewer than 18 different marketing agencies to upload its content to the site. It deliberately "roughed up" the videos to make them look stolen or leaked. It opened YouTube accounts using phony email addresses. It even sent employees to Kinko's to upload clips from computers that couldn't be traced to Viacom. And in an effort to promote its own shows, as a matter of company policy Viacom routinely left up clips from shows that had been uploaded to YouTube by ordinary users" Things are not well in the digital age. So what can we do? (If you have not had a copyright claim, go to step 3) *Step 1: If you have a copyright claim (and your video falls under Fair Use), try to talk it out with the company. If they have a YouTube account, it makes things much easier. If anything, BRB Internacional proves that they aren't all stuck up in their ivory towers. *Step 2: If that doesn't work, bring it up with YouTube. If this broken system proves one other thing: YouTube does not like work. They will take the path of least resistance. If enough people keep fighting to have their things up, it might be easier to actually change their goddamn system. *Step 3: Watch this video and spread it around. True, it's about a copyright claim of a video game (which actually has the least copyright problems of any media), but its words ring out true for any reviewer or critic of any media: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfgoDD… *Step 4: Learn about the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Spread the word that they exist. Donate or join them if possible. www.eff.org/ *Step 5: Complain to YouTube. I know it may seem like just another drop in the bucket, but it has to be done. If enough people start complaining then they will be FORCED to do something. *Step 6: Boycott any company that has been known to use YouTube's copyright ID policies to shoot first and ask questions later. These companies include: Viacom; 20th Century Fox; and Whine! Factory LLC. *Step 7: If any of my information is wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me, although I'm fairly certain that it's correct this time. It would also be helpful to spread this journal around. Category:Miscellaneous